London Fashion: Striving to be a seamstress or tailor in early 20th Century London involved many hours of tough

Striving to be a seamstress or tailor in early 20th Century London involved many hours of tough labour and low pay in crowded workshops and dimly-lit basements. Equipment was clumsy to work with such as the wooden tailoring 'clupper'. This was a pounding block used by tailors to flatten seams, darts and lapels. Thankfully, over the years, conditions improved and the trade was located to bigger, modern factories and more women were employed. There were even a few perks to look forward to such as the annual staff outing. I wonder what those hard-working immigrants would say if they could see the tools of the trade now. This vibrant city continues to produce innovative designs that often have the rest of their global fashion counterparts running to catch up. The recent London Fashion Week saw VIPs sporting their favourite autumn/winter animal prints, trilbys and trending str...